Books I've been reading

Hi... remember me?

This is just a note to share the books I've been reading, lately. A couple of years ago, I read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.I loved the book, and at the time found some more books by her at a yard sale. Those books have been sitting on my shelf until right after Christmas. I finally picked up the first one, and I couldn't put it back down! The books are a series, called Mark of the Lion. The first book is A Voice in the Wind.It was a little hard for me to get into the book. There is a lot (LOT) of character development in the beginning, and there are a lot of characters. But once I was into it, I really couldn't put it down. I jumped right into the second book, An Echo in the Darkness, the same night I finished the first.I cried my eyes out during the second book. It was so uplifting, spiritually and emotionally! The second book was SO SO good, that I waited almost a month to read the third book, As Sure As the Dawn. It was also very good, but the second book is, by far, my favorite!

A couple of weeks ago, at the Library, I found another series by Francine Rivers, The Sons of Encouragement, and I picked up one of the novellas. The Priest.

I am in the middle of this book, right now. And it's all I want to do. I'm also doing a Bible study, loosely based on the Moses leading his people through the wilderness, so I'm really loving that it all ties in together! I told Andy, I've never been so excited to read an Old Testament story!!

Works for me, Wednesday (on a Thursday)

I love reading other blogs with the heading "Works for Me Wednesday". They are usually full of creative ideas for all sorts of things. So, today I'm doing one - on a Thursday!

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We struggle with too many cups for the dishwasher at the end of the day. It seems my kids have to get a new cup for every drink. The table is always full of cups. Plus, for the most part, they eat dry cereal in cups for breakfast (I have no idea why). So, I've instituted a new one-cup (for drinks)-a-day policy. I took some rubber bands and put their initials on them. Well, the rubber bands were all beige. And the initials were very small. So, yesterday I rethought the idea. I figured I needed to go to an office supply store anyway, so I'd pick up some colored rubber bands, and they would each pick a color. Then it hit me. We have colored rubber bands ALL OVER our house. They're called Silly Bandz!!! (or the generic equivalent) So, now, they place their favorite silly band on their cup in the morning, and hopefully by dinner, they're using the same cup. I'm not expecting miracles, but I've already noticed a lot less cups in the sink!!

Uncle Simon and Aunt Joy visit!

This past weekend, Simon and Joy paid us a visit. It was just a quick over-night stay, but we had a great time, and the kids really enjoyed receiving presents! Here's a few pictures of the kids.

Thrift Store Find

Went to a new (for me) thrift store this weekend. Found this message board for $2.98. My office is yellow, and this board is blue, green, and yellow. It matches perfectly! LOVE IT!!

The 30-day Giving Challenge

Yes, I'm doing this again this year. But I'm not stressing about it. I feel good. I've unloaded 4 or 5 boxes to the local thrift store. I've passed on baby items, books, and clothes. I've done special things for my husband. I've given up half a day to see some of my favorite teenagers. And I've been blessed. My neighbor is fantastic. She's as sweet as can be, and willing to be there for us. We've lived here 6 weeks. She watched my kids for the aforementioned half a day. With only two days notice. We've been welcomed with open arms into our new church. The other homeschooling moms I've met are all willing to answer my questions (and I have a lot) about places to go locally (Drs, car places, shopping, etc). I have little people that love to hug me. I have little eyes that smile at my silliness. Yes, I'm am blessed. And I'm enjoying sharing my blessings this month. Are you giving?

Allison's fit

Allison is really good at throwing fits. Here's a series of shot from our photo shoot with Robert and Candy. The blonde is our great-niece, Abi. Watch Ryan and Abi as Allison screams. Cracks me up every time I look at these!

The Move

So, to back up a little bit (about a month), we've moved to Missouri. Not very far into Missouri. We're only an hour from the Arkansas line. Andy got a job up here last March (well, he started on the 31st), and was making the hour and a half drive every day. We finally decided it was time to leave home. We looked at a couple of houses, and finally found the one we're in.

We're out with the cows. And mice. We have a few neighbors, and by few, I mean 5 or 6 within half a mile. Only one of the neighbors is under the age of 50 (I think she's in her

early 20s), so I'm praying we become friends. She has a little guy who's almost one. A little younger than my kids, but Allison is in love with him.

We've been to the new church once. We went early for Sunday school, and Turner volunteered to be Joseph in the Christmas show. And he's our shy one!! We've met with Charlene a couple of times (she's the associate pastor), and she helped us find a Sunday School class that I think will

be what we need right now. She also gave me some phone numbers for babysitters.

We've joined the Y. They offer homeschool PE once a week, and the boys seem to really like that. Turner is signing up for basketball and can't stop talking about it. They also have Family Fun Nights on Fridays, and other art classes throughout the year. I think our Y membership is going to provide a lot of fun. Besides, the whole exercise thing...

Our shopping options here are Wal-Mart, Lowes, Dollar General, a couple of smaller grocery stores, and a few cute down-town-type shops. There's one store, Modern Variety, that reminds me of General Dollar back home. You never know what you'll find and it's so much fun to go in there.

As a thrift-queen, I'm sad to say there's only one thrift store here, and I wasn't very impressed. However, Springfield is only 50 minutes away and they have over 15, according to Magicyellow.com. Joplin is 30-45 minutes away and they have about the same.